According to research, it has been confirmed that roughly 75% of individuals listen to music when they are doing homework. But is this helpful or detrimental? Does it increase a person’s emotional stress or does it lower it? Stress and anxiety can result in physical health problems which include migraines, stomach problems, elevated blood pressure, and other health concerns. Music is unquestionably an emotional medium and can result in both negative and positive psychological and physical changes to the human body. Since stress or tension can negatively have an effect on learning, the question becomes “will music lower the stress that studying will cause or will it increase the stress?”
Studies have indicated that music may affect an individual’s mood and stress levels. Music is occasionally used to assist recovery rates due to health issues and is able to decrease an individual’s heart rate and blood pressure levels, creating a calming effect. So initially you might think that music can make studying much less stressful, which in turn might increase the ability to learn. Nevertheless, whether this is true or not is determined by several things.
The truth is, the more challenging the subject, the more likely it is that music will interfere with the learning process. Conversely, for things that are less complicated, music can supply psychological stimulation that produces a beneficial learning experience. In other words, sometimes music can be helpful and sometimes harmful.
Whether music is affecting learning in a good or bad way also varies according to the sort of music played as well as the temperament of the person. Music that has a faster tempo or beat requires more concentration, which may raise the heart rate and blood pressure levels. On the flip side, music that has a much slower tempo can reduce a person’s heart rate, which can result in a mental state that’s too calm for beneficial study.
Music that’s too loud can make it considerably more difficult to concentrate. However, if it’s really soft a person may put more effort into enjoying the music, which will also lead to concentration difficulties. Ideally, the volume will be reasonable, not too loud or soft. Another factor is the key the music is in. Music written in a major key is normally more happy and positive while music written in a minor key is in most cases sounds sadder. For learning and studying practices, it is advisable to play music that’s written in a major key at a moderate tempo and volume.
Words of the song are yet another factor, and could actually be the most detrimental part of music. Whenever an individual is attempting to study or learn, while also listening to the words of the music, the exact same areas of the human brain are attempting to do two things simultaneously. And research shows that students are distracted the most when they play music they’re most familiar with.
One other issue concerns a person’s personality. Introverts require a lesser amount of stimulation while extroverts need a larger amount. Extroverts often benefit from the increased stimulation that music offers while an introvert’s brain might be disrupted.
As we pointed out, you’ll find many variables that will determine if music will be harmful or useful when studying or learning. The benefits of using background music are a personal thing, and what’s good for one person will be disruptive for another person.
